Method and apparatus for excavating shale and the like



H. R. STRAIGHT METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EXCAVATING SHALE AND THE LIKEFiled Feb. 13. 1923 3 Sheets-Shet l IIIIIBI Jan, 27, 1925 I H. R.STRAIGHT METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EXCAVATING SHALE AND THE LIKE FiledFeb. 13- 9 1i? 3 Sheets-Sheet 2- Jan, 27, H. R. STRAIGHT METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR EXCAVATING SHALE AND THE LIKE Filed Feb. 13. 3 3Sheets-Sheet 5 Federated Jan 27, 1925.

UNITED STATES HALVER R. STRAIGHT, F ABEL, IOWA.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EXCAVATING SHALE AND THE LIKE.

Application filed February 13, 1923. Serial No. 618,779.

1 '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HALvnn R. STRAIGHT, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Adel, in the county of Dallas, State of Iowa, haveinvented a certain new and that form of excavators which are commonlyknown in the clay industry as planer-s, which are designed to work inopen clay banks of a considerable depth, say from fifty to one hundredfeet, and provided with an endless conveyor arranged to have one of itsruns move in substantially a vertical plane, the said conveyor beingprovided with an alternate series of buckets and cutters, such as isillustrated in my patent issued April 15, 1919, Number 1,301,017, thepresent invention being an improved method of operating the said machinetogether with the necessary apparatus for carrying out. the method. Ifind in operating machincs of this character in banks of con siderableheight, as above mentioned, when the machine has entered into the bank aconsidcrable distance, that the upper edges of the bank has a tendencyto crumble off and slide down into the cut made by the machine. Theheight of the bank is often greater than the width of the cut, and afterthe machine has passed into the bank for a considerable time, say sixmonths or a year, the floor of the cut becomes covered with the loosenedshale from above,.and in actual practice 1 have been compelled to placethe track, on which the carrier cars are mounted for moving the shalefrom the pit, on a trestle work so the truck will be above this loosedeposit of shale so it is not necessary tobe continually cleaning thetracks, The expense of building a trestle work and maintaining the sameamounts to considerable, and furthermore it is impos sible to get theexcavator outofthe out without having to remove a large. part of theloose deposited material. It is with the view of overcoming thesedifliculties that I have perfected the present invention.

My invention consists in the construction,

arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, wherebythe objects contemplated are attained, and the method of operating thesame, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which;

Figure 1 illustrates a side elevation of one form of the apparatus whichis designed to carry out my invention.

Figure 2 is a top view of the same showing the shape of the bankproduced by my improved method. while the machine is bein operated.

*igure 3 is a diagrannnatical view showing in plane a out formed byimproved method.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatical view showing in solid lines a newly formedout or pit produced by the old method and also the track and scaffoldwork for supporting the same. The dotted lines show substantially theposition which the bank will take after a considerable period of time.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatical, sectional view of a portion of a cutproduced by my improved method with the same excavator that produced thecut illustrated in Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a detail, sectional view taken on the line 66 of Figure 1.

The numeral 10 indicates the main frame of the excavator which isdescribed in my patent above referred to, the said frame being mountedon radial rollers 11. The rollers 11 aredesigned to operate on acircular track 12 which is formed of a single rail having ties 13.

The frame 10 is a provided with an, excavating member 14: which isdesigned to operate substantially in a vertical plane. The frame 10 isalso provided with a base member 15 which extends horizontally from theback side of the frame and has its in nor end supported on a pivotedtruck 16.,

10. The upper side of the balancing Weight the belt 47.

19 is provided with a vertical post 20 which is secured against lateralmovement by a brace '21 fastened to the frame 10. The post 20 issubstantially over the pivot truck 16. The upper end of the post'20 isprovided with a frame 22 which is slightly inclined from the,horizontal. The said frame is designed to receive on its upper face ahopper 23 which is for the purpose of receiving the excavated materialfrom the delivery chute 24: of. the excavator.

Shdably mounted in the frame 22 l ha-ve'provided one end of an inclinedconveyor member 25. The opposite end of the conveyor 25 is provided witha bracket 26 which is pivotally supported byjmeansof a cable 27 carriedby a pulley 28. The pulley 28 is secured to'a bea n29 supported by a"vertically arranged frame 30. The frame 30 is supported ona track31haying h s 2 epre i'v ly mount d o v at ack fT able 21 asf lower end supported' on a winding drum 34designed to be actuated by a. crank 3 5,theo ,d rumbeing heldagain'st backwardjrotation by a pawl 36 a v a Theframe 30 is provided with a hopper 37 which is designed to receivematerial discharged from the conveyor 25,, Beneath the hopper-" 37 is atrack 38 onwhich the conveyor cars 39 are operatively mounted. The track38 may beelevated any desired height above the track or in some cases,the track 38 may be mounted on the floor level between thetrack members33.

The upper end of, the conveyor frame 25 is pro'vide d with an electricmotor 40 which is designed to operate a worm 41 in mesh with a worm gear42 This rotates the shaft 43 and operates the belt carrying rollers 44.The opposite end of the conveyor frame 25 is provided with a roller 15and intermediate rollers 46; the said rollers being designed to carry abelt 47 designed to extend beneath the lower'end of, the hopper 23, asclearly illustrated in Figure 6, so that material discharged into thehopper 23 may be elevatedhnd discharged over the upper end of thesaidbelt into'the hopper37'. 3

By this arrangement itv will be seenthat material may be discharged fromthe chute 24: of the excavator into the hopper 23 and then be carried tothe hopper 317 a e m t r l "mythen be deliveredto the car 39' i millroom. a

The practical. operation of my improved apparatus is as followed In. myissued patent,- abo ve referred to, the truck 16' is mounted on astraight track, which i s l ocja ted on the fioor of the cut made'bythe'excavator and in line with; the

cut made thereby,- while my present ar-- ma s-se t Canasta a e evatesthe r k:

beneath the truck 31.

c onveyed to the 31 on a track 33 taking the position of the trackpreviously used for the truck 16. The truck 16 is mounted on a trackwhich is laid in a circular form and has its center The radius of thetrack is slightly less than the length of the conveyor 25 so that thetruck 16 may travel about the truck 31 as a center. The excavator frame10 is carried about the truck 16 as a center in the manner as previouslyemplo ed.

Figure 2 lllustratcs the manner in which these tracks are laid in actualo eration. Referring to the said figure, it wil be seen that while themachine is in actual operation, the excavator may be swung about thetruck 1621s a center to form a circular embanlnnent 48, and tllfltl'llck16 to swing about the truck 01 as a center to form the circularembankment 50. Thus in actual operation the excavator will swing inalternate directions between the pomt where the embankments 48 and49lintersect, and the point 5 0; the radius of the path of. travel beingchanged by sliding. the frame 15 relative to the truck 16, as, describedin my issued patent. This is continued until the frame has reached itsouter limit of movement. The truck 16 is then drawn forwardly on thetrack 18 in the direction of the arrow a distance equalto the depth ofthe cut made.

This operation isrepeated until the conveyor=25 is operating atsubstantially right angles to the, track 33, at which time the excavatorwill be inline with the embankment 51, illustrated in Figure 3 Thedistance between the embankments 51 and 52 is equal to twice the.combined length of the conveyor 25 and the frame 15.

By this arrangement it will be seen that a comparatively large cut orpit may be formed, and the track 33 laid midway between the en'il-iankn'ients, the track being such distance from the embankments as anydirt or shale that would become loosened and fall to the bottom willnever reach the said track, and thcrebv insure the said track frombecoming broken.

Any time it is desired to remove the excavator from the pit, it may beeasily and quickly accomplished without having to first remove thematerial, which has been fed in the pit by the action of the frost andrains In Figure 3 the dotted lines indieateabout the position the saidmaterial would take. The width of the path of loose n aterial thusforned, would be covered largely by-the depth and width of the cut, and alsothe position of the, material itself,

After the excavator has beenedvanced adesired aniountinto the bank, andit is desired to form a new cut, the track 33'cou1d be iders-rally unt lit ear-nes e an o loose material, and a narrow cut would be formed inthe bank and the machine worked outwardly to the open end of the cut.The embankment of'the new cut would assume the position indicated by thedotted line 53. By this method, the loose material would all be gatheredup and a new embankment 53 formed as the machine is moved outwardly.This has the advantage that the clay delivering cars may be kept inoperation a sufficient amount so that the mill would not need to beclosed down while the excavator is being set for a new cut.

By making the conveyor 25 slidably mounted in the frame 22, it will beseen that the radius of the track 16 may be varied slightly withouteffecting the operation of the device.

It will also be seen that by moving the truck 16 toward or from thetruck 31, the

radius of the finished embankment of theend of the pit could be varied,or a portion of the embankment could be formed in one radius and anotherportion in another radius, so that the pit could be made to as sumeother shapes than the one illustrated in the drawings. This isadvantageous due to the fact that the vein of the better shale or clayis sometimes crooked and uneven. In fact, by proper manipulation of theapparatus, a cut of almost any desired shape may be formed. It is notthought necessary to describe the methodsof producing the various shapesof cuts, as any one familiar with the operation of the machine couldreadily understand how to accomplish the desired result.

A number of advantages are obtained by this method over the previousmethods of excavating, one of which consists in forming the embankmentsin a circular shape. The cmbankments when viewed from above would have acircular form at all times. This greatly assists in supporting the outersurface of the embankment and'prevents, to a large extent the slidingand crumbling,

which would result if the embankment was formed of a straight or fiatface.

By this method, it will be seen that the embankment which is beingworked on is of a comparatively small radius and at a time when it ismost desired that the said cmbankn'ient should be supported.

In, actual operation, I find thatthe emliiankment will stand for aperiod of several weeks without any indication of sliding or crumblingaway. The embankments of the main pit have to stand for a period ofseveral years before a new cut is take-n, and the main embankments areusually substan tially flat or straight and do not have the curvedfeature for supporting them. The result is a large amount of loosematerial will fill the bottom of the pit, as before described.

Another advantage of my method consists in the fact that the embankmentwhich is actually being operated on is of comparatively small area, andthat the machine works over the surface several times during a singleday. In freezing weather, the shale from the surface of the bank is cutaway faster than it freezes, while if the machine operated over thesurface only once in every few months, the embankments would be frozenthree or four feet thick, and it would be almost impossible to cut it inthe cold weather.

I claim as my invention:

1. An excavator frame, an excavating mechanism on one end of the framehaving a discharge chute, a pivoted truck for the opposite end of theframe, a hopper substantially above and carried by the said pivotedtruck designed to receivematerial from said discharge chute, a secondhopper spaced from the first said hopper, a conveyor for receivingmaterial from the first said hopper, and delivering it to the saidsecond hopper, said conveyor being so mounted that the first hopper andthe pivoted truck supporting the same may be swung about the secondhopper as a center, the said conveyor being in operative relation withboth of said hoppers when the first hopper is in any of'its swingingpositions of movement, the said excavator being mounted to swing aboutsaid pivoted truck when the said truck is in any of its swinging positions of movement.

2. An excavator frame, an excavating mechansim on one end of the framehaving a discharge chute, a pivoted truck for the opposite end of theframe, a hopper substantially above and carried by the said pivotedtruck designed to receive material from said discharge chute, a secondhopper spaced from the first said hopper, a conveyor for receivingmaterial from the first said hopper and to deliver it to the said secondhopper, said conveyor being so mounted that the first hopper and thepivoted truck supporting the same may be swung about the second hopperas a center, the said conveyor being in operative relation with both ofsaid hoppers when the first hopper is in any of its swinging positionsof movement, the said excavator being mounted to swing about saidpivoted truck when the said truck is in any of itsv swinging positionsof movement, and conveying means for delivering material from the secondhopper.

3. An excavator frame, an excavating mechanism on one end of the framehaving a discharge chute, a pivoted truck for the opposite end of theframe, a hopper substantially above and carried by the said pivotedtruck designed to receive material fromsaid discharge chute, a secondhopper spaced from the first said hopper, a co11- Hit) ' V ter, the saidconveyor being in operative veyor for receiving" material from the firstsaid hopper and delivering it tothe said SGCOntl hopper, said conveyorbeing' so mounted that the first hopper and the piv- -oted trucksupporting the same may be swung about the second hopper as acenrelation with both of said hoppers when the first hopper is in any ofits swinging positions of movement, the said excavator being mounted toswing about said pivoted truck when the said truck is in any of itsswinging positions of movement, conveymetrically with the first saidtrack, a; truck forthe said second trackglocated'substan tia'll y abovethe center of said" circular track, a hopper carried? by the last saidtruck, a hopper carried by the first said truck, a conveyor arrangedtelescopically beneath the said second hopper to receivem'ateri'a ltherefrom and deliver it to the first said hopper, said conveyorhavingitsdischarge end 'p'ivo'tally mounted above the first said hopper, anexcavator frame having one end carried by said pivotedtruck,

a an excavator on the opposite end of said frame having a dischargechute for delivering material from the excavator to said second hopper,said excavator ha vingmeans for carrying it ina circularpa-th about thepivoted truck; as a center.

5; An excavating mechanism comprising a circular track, a pivoted truckfor said circular track, a second'track arranged diametrically with thefi'rst said track, a truck for the said second track locatedsubstantiallyabove the center of said circular track, a hopper carriedby the last said truck, a hopper carried by the first said truck, aconveyor arrangedtelescopically beneath the said second hopper toreceive material therefrom and deliver itto the first said hopper, saidconveyor having its discharge-end pivotally mounted above the first saidhopper, means for elevating and lowering said discharge end, means; fordriving said conveyor, an excavator framehaving one end? carried by'said" pivoted track, an excavator on the 'oppositeend of said framehaving a discharge chute for dehvering material from the excavator tosaid second hopper, said excavator having means for carrying it in acircular path about the pivoted truck as a center.

6. An excavating mechanism comprising an excavator frame havin anexcavator at one end, means for carrymg the excavator end' of said framein a circular path with the opposite end of the frame above the pivot'edcenter of said circular ath, means for carrying the pivoted end 0 saidexcavator frame in a circular path, means located at the pivoted centerof the last said means for receiving'and delivering the ex cavatedmaterial, and means foiydeliverin material from the excavator to thelast sai receiving means when the excavator mechanism isin any" of itscircular positions of movement.

71 The method of excavating shale and the like consisting in operatingan excavator in a circular path about a pivot center and in eitherdirection, advancing the excavator radially at the end of eithermovement, repeating the above movements with a fixed pivot center untila predetermined number of radial advancements have beenmade, then movingthe pivot center'of the excavator about a second pivot center to form anew cut, and continuously: delivering material from the excavator toa-point near the second pivot center as' the excavator is beingoperated.

8. A111 excavating mechanism comprising a circular track, a truck forsaid circular track, a second track arranged diametricallywith the firstsaid track, a hopper locatedsubstantially above the center of saidcircular trackand above said second track, a hopper carried by saidtruck, a conveyor arrangedtelescopically beneath the said second hopperto receive material therefrom and deliver it to the first said hopper,said conveyor having a discharge end pivotally mounted above/the firstsaid hopper, means for driving said conveyor, an excavator frame havingone end carried by said truck, an excavator on the opposite end of saidframe having a discharge chute for delivering material from theexcavator to said secondhopper, said'excavator having means for carryingit in a circular path about said truck" asa; center.

HALVER R. STRAIGHT.

